Shinigami
by impression
Summary: The boys are late coming back from a mission and Duo-chan's worried. The beginning's really weird because this was originally an assignment for my English class.


Shinigami  
by Minako  
  
Well, I left my manga at home, so I didn't get to check the  
actual author of it... Shin Kidousenki Gundam Wing doesn't in any way  
shape or form belong to me (though I wish I had a Duo)!  
  
-------  
  
All that remained was a shredded note, a half eaten hard boiled  
egg, an old baseball cap emblazoned with the logo of the Hamilton Tiger  
Cats, and a shoelace. In my opinion, the table looked empty. I picked  
up the hard boiled egg and held it between my fingers, considered  
eating it, then put it back down. I wasn't hungry anymore. I wanted  
something to do... no, I needed something to do. I couldn't stand just  
sitting here doing nothing. I drummed my fingers absently on the table,  
and read the small shred of paper again.  
  
"We'll be back on the tenth, no later than noon." I frowned,  
and looked at the clock on the other side of the room. It was eight  
thirty at night. The calendar read the twelfth. I dropped the paper to  
the table, and tried to ignore the thoughts rushing through my head.  
*They're dead... everyone you love dies... you know that, that's why  
you do what you do... that's why you're...* I shook my head. Thinking  
like that wouldn't do me any good.  
  
Absently, I ran my fingers through my loose brown hair, and  
began to braid it. I liked my hair, it fell well past my waist. The  
others thought it was nuisance, unnecessary. Despite what they said, I  
refused to cut it. It was one of the few things I'd always had. One of  
the few things I'd managed to keep despite all those years so far in  
the past now, all the fights I'd experienced then and now, all the  
things I'd been through. I'd never cut it. It was, and still is,  
important to me.   
  
Holding the loose end of the now completed braid, I searched  
for something to tie it in with. With a shrug, I picked up the shoelace  
and wrapped it around the end of the end of the braid until the ends  
were short, then I tied it in. He'd always said I looked girlish with  
my long hair, I wasn't about to have something looking like a bow in  
there to top it off. I bit my lower lip. He was with them... Where were  
they... what had happened to them? I shook my head again. Worrying  
about it wouldn't do me any good.   
  
When I was done with it, the black shoelace looked nothing like  
a bow. Tossing the braid over my shoulder, I reached across the table,  
lifted up the baseball cap and I shoved it on my head. It felt right  
there, even if it wasn't my normal black one, and even if I'd never  
heard of the 'Hamilton Tiger Cats'. I wasn't sure which one of them it  
belonged to, but it was there, and I was going to wear it. Tossing the  
now cold hard boiled egg into my mouth, I forced myself to eat it.  
Hunger would do me no good at all, even less good than the worrying  
had. I stood up, the chair making an awful screeching noise against the  
tile floor. I had to get out of the kitchen.  
  
I wandered into the living room and turned on the TV. It was  
too quiet. Even with the TV on, it was too quiet. No idle chit-chat, no  
comments at the TV, no munching on food, and worst of all, no clacking  
of keys.  
  
I had always hated that laptop. It got more attention than I  
did, and I must admit, I like attention. I glanced over at the laptop,  
the lid was closed, and the person I wanted there was absent. There was  
no clacking coming from it. No one hitting the keys... nothing. Just  
the news, talking about some riot in a different country. Yeah, like I  
cared. I continued to stare at the laptop. *They're not coming back,*  
the voice in my head told me, *they've died, and you're the only one  
left. It's the way it always is... the way it's meant to be... because  
you are...* I rose to my feet and walked to the laptop. I opened it and  
sat down in the same movement. I turned it on and waited impatiently  
for the start-up screen to finish. I toyed with the gold cross that I  
always wore around my neck, the only other thing I'd kept all my life,  
well, since the day I'd been given it at least. The screen finally  
finished, and a password prompt came up. I hesitated. He didn't know I  
knew his password, but after leaning over his shoulder to read things  
so many times, I'd learned it. Never once had I used it, he deserved  
his privacy. *He doesn't need privacy if he's dead...* the voice in my  
head reminded me. I typed in the five letter word and hit enter.  
  
I had always wondered what the reason behind his password was.  
Was it because of what we fight for? Was it because of her? Or another  
reason maybe? My bet was on the first. The final outcome of all the  
fighting, the thing all of us pilots, all us rebellious soldiers wished  
for, the thing it looked like we'd never have... peace. I snapped out  
of my reverie when the screen began flashing.  
  
"PASSWORD ACCEPTED" it read. I hit enter. I typed in all four  
of their names, and waited for results. The computer hummed as it  
searched for them, for where they'd gone this time, for what had come  
of it, for what had happened to them. Everything I could ever want to  
know about their mission. *They're dead...* the voice told me. I  
ignored it, and waited for results. When they came up, I chose the most  
recent mission that involved all four of them, and I waited again. It  
was so slow. I couldn't help but wonder how he always managed to remain  
typing despite how slowly the screens changed. It finally loaded, and I  
stared at it. It took a while for it to register with me, and then all  
I could do was shake my head.   
  
"No... no... no... no... no... no..." I whispered the word over  
and over. I knew I was in shock and I didn't care. I don't know how  
long I sat there, repeating that one word. The screen switched off to  
save electricity, that's when I snapped out of it. When the painfully  
white screen turned to black, and the awful words disappeared. *You  
knew they were dead,* the voice told me, *it's because you loved them,  
you know... like brothers... or maybe even more than that... it's  
because you loved them... and everything you love dies... it's because  
of who you are...* I stood up suddenly, the voice chasing away any  
hopes I had of denial. I hit the laptop on my way up, and the words  
reappeared.   
  
"MISSION FAILED" the words were my cruel reality. I closed the  
lid of the laptop without turning it off, and I sadly accepted what the  
voice... my voice... had been telling me. *They died... it's because  
you loved them... everything you love dies... because you are  
Shinigami*  
  
-------  
  
I LOVE this. ^_^ I got full marks for it too ^_^. Anyway, I  
love this too bits!! For those of you who don't know, Shinigami means  
God of Death, which is what they call Duo in Gundam Wing (or rather  
what Duo calls himself) C&C are welcome, kind crits are ok, but flames  
make me cry. 


End file.
